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Molsten
Region: Molsten, Crown, Volan Summary Nestled in the crown of Volan Peak, the tallest mountain in Volanil, Molsten is the capitol of the kingdom and the seat of the Royal Family. Also considered the heart of Volanil culture, such as it is. The city is in tiers up the mountain, going from poorest to richest, generally. It snows, but the snow never remains on the ground very long, melted from beneath. The runoff is funneled into cut stone paths down the city, from which people get their drinking water. Population Because the royal family is human, a lot of humans have moved to Molsten, but certainly every common race--and nearly every uncommon one--can be found here. Architecture and Design Molsten is carved from a sheer, glittering black rock that cannot be naturally found anywhere else. There are no joints in the stonework anywhere in the city, giving off a glassy, otherworldly air. Climate and Geography Volan Peak is always warm, and so Molsten is always warmish even though it has very high altitude. It is also home to multiple volcanic vents and hot springs. Natural Resources Molsten is the most glittering of all the cities, from its near-impenetrable seamless black rock to the gems mined from its laval quarries. Gold flows like wine in this city; too much for some people and not enough for others. Culture and History Molsten was the first settlement created on Volanil, when the First King Molstegrov tamed Volan Peak and brought the plants and animals up from beneath the thick, unending lava flows. The Royal Family has been here ever since, and everyone knows that the moment that bloodline is removed from the throne, the lava and fire will return full-force all over the continent, killing everyone and everything present. In light of that, a religion has cropped up around the idea that the Royal Family is deific. Almost all of the followers of that sparse religion live in Molsten, and its criers can be heard in all corners of the tiered city. Unique Traits It serves Molsten well enough that it lies farthest away from any of the ports, as its values are practically inverted from the rest of the world. Though gold and gems are still sought after, their impressive supply within the city walls results in them being fairly common; even the poorest Molsten citizen likely has a few decorating their house or some of their most prized possessions. What Molsteners truly value are exotic furs and bones, scales and hides, essences that can only be found by battling dangerous creatures out in the wild. A harpy claw, that could barely net you five gold in the far northern reaches of the dwarven foothills on the other side of the world, might be worth fifty or a hundred in Molsten--if you aren't willing to accept gems instead. There are many social classes in Molsten, all of them subtle and nuanced. Moving up and down within them is fairly simple, and dressing for one is half the battle. The other half is simply knowing the intricacies of them all. People who have been born and raised in Molsten can quite easily spot someone who is trying to fit in, for instance by the way the outsider might think all crafters are middle-class, or all workers are lower-class. Local Food and Entertainment Molsten food depends upon Crown farming and imported cattle; the Volan Peak has very few indigenous species, as it had once been the crater of a supervolcano. Though Molsten is built with several tiers of sturdy city walls, not one person within or without it expects it to ever be under siege, so its lack of indigenous food has never been seen as a weakness. Disposition to Outsiders While Molsten on a whole welcomes outsiders and their trade goods, Molstener citizens typically have a personal superiority to all tourists and travelers. Until you can prove your firm place within one of Molsten's many specialized social classes, very few of them will have any patience for you. Religion Molsten is the only city that practices Molstegrovian theism quite so openly. Everyone else who practices it elsewhere in the kingdom tend to do so either quietly or privately, though very rarely are they forced to do so secretly. Most other religions that exist also exist somewhere within the city, though if you're looking for one in particular, you might have to really head into the weeds to find it. Government King Hogan Molstegrov lives at the very center of Molsten, within the Palace Crater at the very center of what had once been the supervolcano. He hosts the Royal Council there. It's his son, however, Prince Jedin Molstegrov, who serves as Mount for Volan Peak and Versor for the Crown Versant. Politics Surprisingly--or, perhaps, unsurprisingly--Molsten is one of the cities with the fewest political snarls to do with electing a representative. Molsten's representative is always one of the Royal Family, specifically Prince Jedin at the moment. However, there is a snarl of politics regarding the operations of Molsten's various exports, most prominently that of gems, silver, gold, and platinum. Crime and Justice The King has appointed Master General Engalyos Torren as Molsten's chief justice, and he's personally in charge of implementing and overseeing a strict top-down structure of policing and justice. Commerce and Trade Most exports from Molsten include deadlocked chests and squadrons of guards, and most imports tend to be magical or at least exotic in nature. Molsteners will also pay extra for rare meats, including ones you might not expect to be considered rare, such as boar or rabbit. Molsten exports its obsidian-ish black rock, called "volantic stone", in a manner controlled wholly by the Throne. It's the only export that the Royal Family lays claim over, and they seem only to care about the rate at which it's quarried, because they then sell to middleman merchants within the city. Volantic stone can be found scattered throughout the kingdom and is the continent's most expensive and sought-after export because of its inherent magical properties, but what those properties actually are isn't always predictable. The stone that comprises the city itself seems only to have the magical property of being indestructible and glittery.